Between 350,000 to 400,000 people remain in northern Gaza, US special envoy David Satterfield said Saturday, as Israeli forces encircle Gaza City. Israel has told Gazans to evacuate the north of the Strip and move south as the war against Hamas intensifies. Meanwhile US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting Arab foreign ministers in Jordan in his latest diplomatic shuttle as the crisis enters its fifth week. Read our live blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
This live blog is no longer being updated. For the latest on the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Today's key events
- Between 350,000 to 400,000 people remain in northern Gaza, US special envoy David Satterfield said Saturday.
- Between 800,000 to a million Gazans have moved from the north to the south of the enclave, said Satterfield, heeding Israel’s call for an evacuation of northern Gaza as the war against Hamas intensifies.
- At least 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday on a UN school in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Jordan with parties disagreeing one the need for an immediate ceasefire. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Arab countries want an immediate cease-fire, saying “the whole region is sinking in a sea of hatred that will define generations to come.” Blinken, however, said “it is our view now that a cease-fire would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on October 7.”
Read moreCan Marwan Barghouti, the ‘Palestinian Mandela’, bring peace to Gaza?
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The death toll of French citizens killed as a result of Hamas' attacks in Israel rose to 39, according to the French foreign ministry. The October 7 Hamas attack killed more than 1,400 people and more than 200 people were taken hostage.
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More than 9,488 people, including 3,900 children, have been killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
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Thousands of Israelis are protesting outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence in central Jerusalem, calling on the Israeli leader to resign in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Netanyahu has so far refused to take responsibility for the attack. He says officials, including himself, will have to give answers to the public, but only after the war.
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Thousands of people have joined a demonstration in Tel Aviv organized by families of some 240 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip. “Now!” the crowd chanted repeatedly, calling for hostages to be freed without delay after nearly a month in captivity. Many held pictures of the hostages, who include children and older people.
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged protests in London, Berlin, Paris, Ankara, Istanbul and Washington DC on Saturday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and castigate Israel after its military intensified its assault against Hamas. In London, television footage showed large crowds holding sit-down protests blocking parts of the city centre, before marching to Trafalgar Square. In Washington, speakers denounced President Joe Biden's support of Israel, declaring "you have blood on your hands." Some vowed not to support Biden's bid for a second term in the White House next year as well as campaigns by other Democrats seeking office, calling them "two-faced" liberals who were "not a refuge from right wingers."
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Gaza's Hamas government suspended the evacuation of foreign passport holders to Egypt Saturday after Israel refused to allow some wounded Palestinians to be evacuated to Egyptian hospitals, a border official said. "No foreign passport holder will be able to leave the Gaza Strip until wounded people who need to be evacuated from hospitals in north Gaza are transported through the Rafah crossing" to Egypt, the official said on condition of anonymity. An Egyptian security source confirmed to AFP that "no wounded person or holder of a foreign passport arrived at the Egyptian terminal" of Rafah on Saturday.
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A young woman of Jewish faith was stabbed at her home in Lyon, France, the public prosecutor's office said on Saturday, adding that "the motive for the attack could have been anti-Semitic". Police were hunting the suspect, as spokesman for the national police gave no further details about the attacker, and said he could not confirm whether police were treating the attack as an anti-Semitic hate crime.
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Turkey said on Saturday it was recalling its ambassador to Israel for consultations due to Israel's refusal to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. The Turkish foreign ministry said Sakir Ozkan Torunlar was being recalled "in view of the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians, and Israel's refusal (to accept) a ceasefire".
Read the day's events as they unfolded:
22:05pm: AFP calls for investigation over strike on Gaza Bureau, RSF files ICC complaint for war crimes
AFP on Saturday called on Israel for "an in-depth and transparent investigation" into the exact involvement of its army after a strike severely damaged its office in Gaza City, which has been shelled for weeks.
AFP "has taken note of the recent statements from the Israeli army spokesman concerning 'an army strike nearby (the AFP office) that might have caused debris'," it said in a statement. However, "this statement on its own does not explain the extent of the damage caused to the AFP bureau", located on the top floors of an 11-storey building, it said of Thursday's incident.
"A strike on the offices of an international news agency sends a deeply troubling message to all the journalists working in such difficult conditions in Gaza," said AFP Chairman and CEO Fabrice Fries. "It is essential that all efforts are made to protect media in Gaza," he added.
According to media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), more than 30 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.
RSF has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court alleging war crimes committed against Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
9:05pm: Israeli protest outside Israeli PM Netanyahu’s house as anger grows
Police held back protesters demonstrating outside the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, amid widespread anger at the failures that led to last month's deadly attack by Hamas gunmen on communities around the Gaza Strip.
Waving blue and white Israeli flags and chanting "Jail now!", a crowd in the hundreds pushed through police barriers around Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem.
The protest, which coincided with a poll showing more than three quarters of Israelis believe Netanyahu should resign, underlined the growing public fury at their political and security leaders.
Netanyahu has so far not accepted personal responsibility for the failures that allowed the surprise assault which saw hundreds of Hamas gunmen storm into southern Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking at least 240 hostage.
As the initial shock has faded, public anger has grown, with many families of the hostages held in Gaza bitterly critical of the government response and calling for their relatives to be brought home. In Tel Aviv, thousands demonstrated, waving flags and holding photographs of some of the captives in Gaza and posters with slogans like "Release the hostages now at all costs".
8:50pm: Evacuation of dual nationals, foreigners from Gaza to Egypt suspended, Palestinian border official says
Gaza's Hamas government suspended the evacuation of foreign passport holders to Egypt on Saturday after Israel refused to allow some wounded Palestinians to be evacuated to Egyptian hospitals, a border official said.
"No foreign passport holder will be able to leave the Gaza Strip until wounded people who need to be evacuated from hospitals in north Gaza are transported through the Rafah crossing" to Egypt, the official said on condition of anonymity.
8pm: Arab leaders push for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire now, US disagrees
Arab leaders publicly pressed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Palestinians said an Israeli air strike killed at least 15 people in a UN-run school being used as a shelter.
In a rare open display of disagreement, the top US diplomat pushed back as he stood next to his Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts at a news conference, saying a ceasefire would only let Hamas regroup and launch more attacks on Israel.
"Right now we have to make sure that this war stops," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the news conference. Speaking at the same news conference, Safadi said: "We cannot allow this war to undermine all that has been done to bring about a just peace to the region." Safadi called for all sides to work together to "stop a catastrophe that will haunt the region for generations".
During a later meeting with Blinken, Jordan's King Abdullah II "stressed the need to stop the war on Gaza and to impose a humanitarian truce to sustain aid delivery to the Gaza Strip", a royal court statement said.
He said: "The only way to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to work towards a political horizon to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution," with a Palestinian state coexisting alongside Israel.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, whose country has been acting as the sole conduit for foreigners to escape Gaza and for aid to get in, called for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire. "Egypt is doing its utmost to ensure the reception of aid and its delivery to the Gaza Strip, as well as providing assistance for the treatment of civilian casualties," Shoukry told the joint news conference. "In this context, I emphasised the importance of achieving an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza without any conditions or restrictions."
7:35pm: French Jewish woman stabbed in a possible anti-Semitic motive in Lyon, prosecutor says
A young woman of Jewish faith was stabbed at her home in Lyon, France, the public prosecutor's office said on Saturday, adding that "the motive for the attack could have been anti-Semitic".
An investigation into "attempted murder" has "been opened", it added, adding that the victim's life was not in danger and that "no arrests" had been made at this stage.
A spokesman for the national police gave no further details about the suspect, and said he could not confirm whether police were treating the attack as an anti-Semitic hate crime.
"Such an act of violence is unthinkable. I offer all my support to the victim and her relatives," said Lyon Mayor Gregory Doucet on the social media platform X.
Police in countries around the world have reported a surge in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic offences in the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
7:28pm: Thousands march in major cities to demand Gaza ceasefire
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged protests in London, Berlin, Paris, Ankara and Istanbul Saturday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and castigate Israel after its military intensified its assault against Hamas.
In London, television footage showed large crowds holding sit-down protests blocking parts of the city centre, before marching to Trafalgar Square. Protesters held "Freedom for Palestine" placards and chanted "ceasefire now" and "in our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians". Police said they had made 11 arrests. One person was arrested for displaying a placard that could incite hate, contrary to terrorism legislation.
In Berlin, demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, demanding a ceasefire. One woman marched with her arm in the air, her hand covered in fake blood.
In central Paris, thousands marched to call for a ceasefire with placards reading "Stop the cycle of violence" and "To do nothing, to say nothing is to be complicit." It was one of the first, big marches in support of Palestinians to be legally allowed in Paris since the Hamas attack of October 7.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Istanbul and Ankara, a day before a visit to Turkey by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for talks on Gaza.
Turkey, which has sharply criticised Israel and Western countries as the humanitarian crisis has intensified in Gaza,supports a two-state solution and hosts members of Hamas. Ankara does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation, unlike the United States, the European Union, and some Gulf states.
In Istanbul's Sarachane park, protesters held banners saying "Blinken, the accomplice of the massacre, go away from Turkey," with a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blinken together with a red "X" mark on it.
Thousands of protesters in the US capital on Saturday called for a ceasefire in Gaza amid Israel's relentless bombing campaign, with some slamming President Joe Biden's support for Washington's top ally in the Middle East. The rally, at which demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and wore the traditional keffiyeh scarf, was the largest protest in Washington since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7.
"Free, free Palestine," and "End the siege on Gaza now," the protesters shouted. Other slogans targeted the US president: "Biden, Biden you can't hide, you signed off on genocide" and "We say no, Genocide Joe." "It is unacceptable to allow for the loss of so many innocent lives and we cannot consider this a proportional conflict," said 24-year-old Amanda Eisenhour of Virginia.
6:28pm: Can Marwan Barghouti, the ‘Palestinian Mandela’, bring peace to Gaza?
Hamas has said that the group would only release all 240 Israeli hostages held in Gaza if Israel agrees to free all Palestinian prisoners. Among those locked up is Marwan Barghouti, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004 for deadly attacks against Israelis. For many Palestinians, their “Nelson Mandela” is a leader-in-waiting, as FRANCE 24’s Assiya Hamza reports.
Read moreCan Marwan Barghouti, the ‘Palestinian Mandela’, bring peace to Gaza?
5:32pm: Thousands gather for first pro-Palestinian march in Paris
Thousands took to the streets in Paris on Saturday for the first pro-Palestinian march to be authorised by French authorities since the war between Israel and the Hamas group started.
The French government announced a ban on all pro-Palestinian rallies on October 12. But France’s administrative court ruled that the government could not impose a "systematic ban" on such rallies and said local authorities could authorise Palestinian solidarity rallies on a case-by-case basis
Reporting from Place de la République in Paris, FRANCE 24’s Oliver Farry said there was a large police presence at the square.
4:45pm: Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, Jordan FM says
Jordanian Foreign MinisterAyman Safadi said on Saturday that Israel is committing "war crimes" and that it should not be above international law.
Speaking at a news conference in Amman, alongside his Egyptian and US counterparts, Safadi also said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has a leading role to play in efforts to end the war in Gaza.
4:35pm: Ceasefire in Gaza would allow Hamas to regroup and carry out attacks, Blinken says
The United States believes that a ceasefire in Israel's military offensive in Gaza would leave Palestinian militant group Hamas in place and allow it to regroup and carry out similar attacks to the one on October 7, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday.
That attack killed more than 1,400 people, the worst assault in Israel's history. Blinken made his comments at a news conference in Amman, alongside his Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts who have repeatedly urged for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
3:55pm: Brazil's ruling party slams Israel for ‘favouring some countries over others’ on Gaza evacuations
Brazil's ruling Workers Party criticised the Israeli government on Friday for not allowing 34 Brazilians to leave Gaza, saying Israel "established a political hierarchy for the release of civilians, favouring some countries over others" when deciding who should be allowed to evacuate the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told his Brazilian counterpart that Brazilian nationals would leave Gaza by Wednesday, a Brazilian foreign ministry spokesman said late on Friday. But in three days since the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened to allow nationals of other countries to leave Gaza, Brazilians waiting to leave were not on the list approved by Israel, despite diplomatic efforts to include them.
"For the third time, the Israeli government denied the departure of Brazilian citizens threatened by the massacre against the civilian population in the Gaza strip," Workers Party president Gleisi Hoffmann said in a social media post.
She said the Israeli government has not provided any explanation for what she said was discrimination. Brazil tried to find a negotiated solution to the conflict when it presided over the UN Security Council in October, Hoffmann said. "Unfortunately, the Israeli government signals that it has established a political hierarchy for the release of civilians, favouring some countries over others," Hoffmann said. "We cannot allow that Brazilian civilians remain threatened in a region under military massacre," she added.
3:47pm: Israeli strikes in Gaza complicates hostage release efforts, says Qatar
Qatar's foreign ministry has said the continued Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip complicated its efforts to mediate the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani made the comment in a meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement.
Amid mounting anger in the region over Israel's escalated offensive in Gaza, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE's president said the US needs to push for a quick end to the conflict and that a new process must be found for the Israeli-Palestinian issue or the US would be seen as ineffective.
"If this crisis continues, and especially the humanitarian side, and if this crisis, brings us back full circle, to the old containment policy of pre-Seventh of October, I think the American role here is not going to be, forget right and wrong, is not going to be seen as effective," Anwar Gargash told a policy conference in Abu Dhabi.
3:35pm: ‘Two optics’ overshadows Blinken’s second Mideast trip
As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds talks in Jordan with Arab foreign ministers, he faces a perception problem in the region, according to FRANCE 24 International News Commentator Douglas Herbert.
“Blinken is on a mission right now that we have to see through a split screen. On the one hand, Blinken is pressing the official US policy of unstinting support for Israel. At the same time, and this has been growing in volume, the stance that the civilian population of Gaza must be protected,” says Herbert.
“The reality is, most of the world only sees one thing when they look at US policy. They don’t hear the part with Blinken calling for humanitarian policies,” he explains. “They remember [US President Joe] Biden’s embrace of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu early in this conflict and the US saying we have your back – and Blinken reiterating that message.”
1:47pm: Turkey says recalling its ambassador to Israel
Turkey said on Saturday it was recalling its ambassador to Israel for consultations due to Israel's refusal to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Turkish foreign ministry said Sakir Ozkan Torunlar was being recalled "in view of the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians, and Israel's refusal (to accept) a ceasefire".
1:23pm: Blinken to visit Turkey after Israel, Jordan
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit to Turkey for two days from Sunday as part of a Middle East tour amid the Hamas-Israel war, the State Department said.
The top US diplomat was meeting with Arab counterparts in the Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday after visiting Israel the day before.
11:58am: Lebanon’s caretaker PM meets Blinken a day after Hezbollah chief threatens US interests in region
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan and stressed the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza, said Mikati’s office.
Mikati also said "Israeli aggression" in southern Lebanon must stop.
Reporting from southern Lebanon, FRANCE 24’s Rawad Taha noted that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah stopped short of announcing the Lebanese group’s entry on the Hamas side in Israel’s war against Hamas. But in his much-awaited speech Friday, Nasrallah also warned of an escalation.
“While he left all options on the table, political parties in Lebanon have been calling publicly on Hezbollah and Nasrallah not to drag Lebanon completely into that war, irrespective of all other scenarios,” said Taha, adding that Nasrallah has also threatened to target US vessels in the eastern Mediterranean.
11:41am: Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll hits 9,488
The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Saturday at least 9,488 people were killed in the Palestinian territory since war with Israel erupted last month.
The ministry said at least 3,900 children were among those killed since Israel began striking the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas militants in southern Israel.
11:17am: Israel announces 3-hour Gaza highway clearance for evacuees
The Israeli military said it would enable Palestinians to travel on a main Gaza Strip highway on Saturday as part of its three-week-old efforts to encourage civilians to evacuate southward away from areas that are the focus of its war with Hamas.
In a social media post in Arabic, the military said the Salah a-Din road could be used between 1pm and 4pm (1100 GMT and 1400).
"If you care about yourself and your loved ones, heed our instruction to head south," it added.
11:12am: At least 12 killed at UN school in Jabaliya camp
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 12 people had been killed when Israel struck a United Nations school where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
The ministry reported in a statement "12 martyrs and upwards of 54 wounded so far as a result of targeting Al-Fakhura school, which is sheltering thousands of displaced people in Jabalia (refugee) camp in the northern Gaza Strip".
An earlier statement by the interior ministry said it was an "occupation (Israeli) strike" that hit the school. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The director of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City put the death toll of the strike at 15. "There are 15 martyrs and the number is expected to increase," saidMohammad Abu Selmeyah, al-Shifa hospital head, who is also an official in the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
10:55am: Israel strikes Lebanon's Hezbollah after cross-border fire
The Israeli military said Saturday it had struck "two terrorist cells" and a Hezbollah post in response to attempted firing from Lebanon as cross-border shelling continued while Israel fights Hamas in Gaza.
The latest skirmishes came a day after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that the war between Israel and Hamas could turn into a regional conflict if Israel pushed on with its offensive in the Palestinian territory.
"In response to two terrorist cells attempting to fire from Lebanon toward Israeli territory, the IDF (army) struck the cells and a Hezbollah observation post," a military statement said.
It said it had also responded to mortar fire from Lebanon into northern Israel, where no casualties were reported.
10:29am: No record of Hamas blocking or seizing aid, US special envoy says
US Special Envoy David Satterfield said on Saturday that between 800,000 to a million people have moved to the south of the Gaza Strip, while 350,000 to 400,000 remain in the north of the enclave.
Talking to reporters in the Jordanian capital Amman, he said that there were no recorded instances of Hamas forbidding or seizing aid.
"Fuel in depots in Gaza has been accessed by UNRWA for aid trucks, de-salinisation and hospitals in the south of Gaza," he noted.
10:11am: French death toll from Hamas attacks in Israel rises to 39
The death toll of French citizens killed as a result of Hamas' attacks in Israel has risen to 39, with nine other French nationals still missing, France's foreign ministry said on Saturday.
9:03am: Lebanese PM emphasises urgency of ceasefire in Gaza in meeting with Blinken
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman on Saturday and emphasised the importance of working towards a ceasefire in Gaza and stopping Israeli aggression in southern Lebanon, Lebanon state news agency said.
Mikati also stressed Lebanon's commitment to international legitimacy and the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, calling on the international community to pressure Israel to cease its violations.
Blinken, in turn, emphasised his efforts to halt military operations for humanitarian reasons and to address the issue of prisoners.
8:55am: Israel fires missile at Gaza house of Hamas chief Haniyeh, Hamas media says
An Israeli drone fired a missile at the Gaza house of Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh who is currently outside the enclave, Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa Radio reported on Saturday.
It was unclear whether any of his family members were at the house when it was struck. Haniyeh, Hamas' political chief, has been outside the Gaza Strip since 2019, residing between Turkey and Qatar.
Read moreMost wanted: The Hamas leaders on Israel’s radar
8:19am: Blinken visits Jordan after Netanyahu rejects call for 'humanitarian pause'
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Jordan's King Abdullah II Saturday after leaving Israel empty-handed in his efforts to secure humanitarian "pauses" in its war to destroy Hamas. Blinken is also to meet foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Egypt as well as a representative of the Palestinian Authority in Amman.
“Those countries are all calling for a ceasefire, not just a humanitarian pause; they want to see the bombing in Gaza stop now,” said FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris Trent reporting from Tel Aviv.
A key focus of his trip was to convince Israel to enact "humanitarian pauses", which the US believes could help secure the release of roughly 240 hostages thought to be in Hamas captivity, and to allow aid to be distributed to Gaza's beleaguered population.
Blinken, however, was left empty-handed after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejected the call in a televised address soon after the top US diplomat left for Jordan.
Please click on the video player to watch the report.
5:42am: UN chief 'horrified' by Israeli strike on Gaza ambulance convoy
The head of the United Nations was "horrified" by a strike by Israeli forces on a convoy of ambulances in Gaza on Friday, he said in a statement, adding that the conflict "must stop."
"I am horrified by the reported attack in Gaza on an ambulance convoy outside Al Shifa hospital. The images of bodies strewn on the street outside the hospital are harrowing," Antonio Guterres said in the statement.
4:38am: Israeli strike on Gaza ambulance convoy kills several
Israel struck an ambulance on Friday in Gaza City that it said was carrying militants, but which health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave said was evacuating wounded people from the besieged north to the south of the territory.
The attack near the Al-Shifa hospital resulted in the deaths of 15 civilians and wounded 60 other people, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said, mirroring figures released earlier by the Hamas-run health ministry.
Please click on the video player below to watch the report.
3:47am: UN official says the average Gazan is living on two pieces of bread a day
The average Gazan is living on two pieces of Arabic bread made from flour the UN had stockpiled in the region, yet the main refrain now being heard in the street is “Water, water,” the Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday.
Thomas White, who said he traveled “the length and breadth of Gaza in the last few weeks,” described the place as a "scene of death and destruction.” No place is safe now, he said, and people fear for their lives, their future and their ability to feed their families.
The Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, is supporting about 89 bakeries across Gaza, aiming to get bread to 1.7 million people, White told diplomats from the UN’s 193 member nations in a video briefing from Gaza.
But, he said, “now people are beyond looking for bread. It’s looking for water.”
12:22am: 20 killed in shelling of school in north Gaza: Hamas health ministry
Twenty people were killed and dozens more injured in an attack "targeting" a school in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry in the Palestinian territory said early Saturday.
"20 martyrs and dozens of wounded arrived at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City after the direct targeting of a school turned into a makeshift camp for displaced people in the al-Saftawy area in northern Gaza," the health ministry said in a statement.
"Several tank mortar shells fell into the school that was directly targeted," it added.
Key developments from Friday, November 3:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday rejected US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's call for a "humanitarian pause" in its war on Hamas.
Israel struck an ambulance in Gaza City that it said was carrying militants, but which health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave said was evacuating wounded people from the besieged north to the south of the territory. The attack resulted in the deaths of 15 civilians and wounded 60 other people, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 9,227, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said an Israeli strike that hit the French Institute in Gaza was "incomprehensible" as she called for a full investigation into why the building was targeted. The Gaza office of news organisation Agence France-Presse (AFP) was also shelled by the Israeli army. No injures were reported among the staff.
Meanwhile 34 French nationals and their families crossed into Egypt from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Friday, according to FM Colonna. President Emmanuel Macron told reporters during a visit to Brittany that France was starting to evacuate its citizens, and Macron also reiterated his calls for a humanitarian truce.
Read our blog to see how yesterday's events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
